On Saturday, Giuliani popped up in Paris, speaking at the annual gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

While this stretch certainly wasn’t one of complete silence from Giuliani, it was a stark departure from his weeks of freewheeling interviews on both the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election and the federal criminal investigation into Trump’s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen.

Asked by Business Insider about the stretch of relative silence, Giuliani mentioned his recent travels.

“Was in Paris for FreeIran 2018 and day in London,” he said in a text message. “Work and visiting friends in Normandy on the Fourth. Back now in NYC.”

It was then that Giuliani commented – albeit rather briefly – on both Mueller and Cohen. On Wednesday, Giuliani said he had “no decision” to announce on an interview between Trump and Mueller, despite earlier saying observers could expect a decision by that day.

What happened during this quiet stretch

The two-week stretch began right as Cohen began to publicly split with Trump, criticizing the “zero-tolerance” immigration policy, hinting through his friends that he might cooperate with the government and provide information about the president, and causing a dizzying news cycle after being photographed with Tom Arnold, an outspoken anti-Trump comedian.

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Michael Cohen.

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Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Earlier this week, ABC News published an interview with Cohen in which he made an even more apparent split from Trump. When ABC’s George Stephanopoulos pressed Cohen about his past vow to “take a bullet” for Trump, Cohen said, “To be crystal clear, my wife, my daughter, and my son and this country have my first loyalty.”

Cohen, who worked for Trump over the past decade, is the focus of a criminal investigation in the Southern District of New York into whether he violated campaign-finance laws or committed bank fraud, wire fraud, illegal lobbying, or other crimes.

ABC News also reported that once Cohen’s new legal team – headed by the former SDNY prosecutor Guy Petrillo – takes over the case, a joint defense agreement that allows lawyers of both parties to share information and documents would end.

All the recent maneuvering led to increased speculation that Cohen was ready to “flip” on Trump. At the center of Cohen’s troubles is a $130,000 payment he facilitated weeks before the 2016 election to Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to keep her quiet about her allegation of a 2006 affair with Trump.

Michael Avenatti, Daniels’ attorney, told Business Insider he had his own theory why Giuliani went quiet in recent weeks.

“I think that Trump has realized that Rudy is a disaster waiting to happen with every appearance,” Avenatti said. “He has been an absolute train wreck as Trump’s lawyer. Giuliani may also be concerned that I am going to show his hypocrisy relating to pornography.”